Shoni Schimmel scores 21 as Louisville tops Cincinnati

The Bearcats kept the game close for a while, but in the end No. 7 Louisville rolled to a 64-45 win over its American Athletic Conference rivals on Saturday.

The Bearcats (7-7, 0-3) had 27 turnovers and shot 35.6 percent from the field in losing their third straight.

"We always knew coming into this game we would have to sustain getting the ball across midcourt to start the game," Cincinnati coach Jamelle Elliott said.

"Last year their press hurt us from the opening tap and we wanted to start this game with a sense of poise not turning the ball over. We did that up until the 3:00 point of the first half."

The Bearcats trailed only 21-19 with 3:43 left in the first half. Louisville (15-1, 3-0) outscored Cincinnati 15-1 over the next five-plus minutes spanning the two halves to lead 36-20 with 18:11 to play.

Shoni Schimmel, who led the Cardinals with 21 points, completed the run with a 3-pointer from the right corner off a pass from Asia Taylor.

"They went on a little run and we turned the ball over. We are playing two guards Alyesha Lovett and Bianca Quisenberry, who do not run the point," Elliott said.

Cincinnati was missing its All-Conference guard Dayeesha Hollins, who hyperextended her right elbow in a game against Connecticut. Backup point guard Alexis Durley also missed the game.

Louisville continued its press and the Bearcats kept turning it over. Senior guard Kayla Cook led Cincinnati with 14 points.

She made 5 of 11 shots from the field and 3-of-8 3-pointers.

Cincinnati made 16 of 45 field goals but only 4 of 17 3-point attempts. Louisville outrebounded Cincinnati 46-34. Jeanise Randolph had three points, but a game-high 14 rebounds for Cincinnati.

"They were a good defensive team, but we did a lot of things, too," Cook said. "Me personally ... we were fouling a lot, putting them on the foul line.

I think we lost the game at the beginning of the second half. We didn't punch back."

Louisville shot just 33 percent from the field (20-of-61) and 5-of-14 on 3-point attempts.

"They brought the press up and they were being more physical with it," Cook said. "We knew what we should have done, we just didn't handle it well enough."